How to measure heart rate? Heart rate in a healthy person. Heart rate and pulse - what's the difference

What is heart rate? We will go into more detail in this matter. Health - this is certainly the most important part of the life of any person. That is why everyone's task is to control their condition and maintain good health. The heart is very important in the circulation, because the heart muscle enriches the blood with oxygen and pumps it. In order for this system to function properly, constant monitoring of the heart condition is required, including heart rate and abbreviations, which are indispensable indicators that are responsible for the functioning of the heart. How to measure heart rate?

Basic concepts of heart beats

Heart rate is a physiological characteristic that reflects the normal rhythm of heartbeat, widely used in medicine as well as in professional sports. The heart rate is determined by a number of factors and can fluctuate significantly due to the influence of different causes, but it is important that these indicators do not exceed the established limits. Reducing or increasing

frequency of heart fluctuations in pathological form often leads to aggravation of diseases of the endocrine, nervous and cardiovascular systems, and can also lead to serious health consequences.

What is the difference between heart rate and heart rate?

Most people believe that this is the same thing. But it is not so. The heart rate reflects the number of contractions made by the heart, and specifically - the ventricles( lower divisions), for one minute. The pulse rate, or pulse, is the number of arterial expansions during a heart ejection also in one minute. When passing through blood vessels, blood during cardiac contractions creates a convexity in the arteries, which can be determined by touch. Heart rate and pulse may be of equal magnitude, but this is characteristic only of a healthy person. For example, with rhythmic impairments, the heart begins to contract randomly. When it is contracted two times in a row, the left ventricle does not fill up with blood. The second contraction thus occurs already with an empty ventricle, and the blood is not ejected from it into the peripheral vessels and into the aorta. In this regard, the arteries will not be palpated with a pulse, although a cardiac contraction occurs. In the course of atrial fibrillation and a number of other pathologies, there is a discrepancy between pulse rate and heart rate. A similar phenomenon is called a pulse deficit. In such cases, it becomes impossible to determine the heart rate by measuring the pulse. This can only be done by listening to heart attacks, for example, using a phonendoscope. It is important to know how to measure heart rate correctly.

Standards for

In adults, normal heart rate ranges from 60 to 80 beats per minute. At a frequency of less than 60 this phenomenon is called bradycardia, more than 80 - tachycardia. Rate of heart rate by age is indicated below.

At standstill, the indicator will differ depending on the following factors:

age;

of the human sex;

training;

body size.

In newborns this indicator is most often between 120 and 140 beats per minute. A preterm child has a higher value - from 140 to 160. By the year it is decreasing and reaches 110-120, in five years - to 100, to ten - to 90, to thirteen - to 80. The norm of the heart rate at ages will help in this sorting out.

A trained person

If a person is constantly exercising, then the heart rate is lower than normal and is about 50 on the average. If a sedentary lifestyle is maintained, then up to 100 strokes can be achieved at rest. The heart rate of women above men is approximately six strokes, before the onset of menstruation increases even more. The normal heart beat frequency in a healthy elderly person is usually equal to 80 strokes. With an increase in this figure to 160, one can judge the presence of a serious pathology.

Many people are interested in the measurement of heart rate.

When are the changes observed?

At different times of day the value is not the same. The change in the indicator can be traced during the day due to the influence of various factors:

in moments of fear, excitement, anger and other emotions;

with physical activity;

after eating;

depending on the position of the body( standing, sitting or lying down);

after the use of a number of drugs.

The heart rate increases after eating, especially with protein and hot dishes. If the body temperature rises to 37 degrees, the frequency increases by twenty strokes. When a person sleeps, it decreases by about five to seven strokes. The increase in heart rate is approximately ten percent observed in sitting and twenty-upright.

The frequency of impacts also increases:

in stressful situations;

with physical activity;

when in a hot and stuffy room.

Consider how to measure heart rate.

How are the measurements carried out?

Do this in a warm and quiet room at rest. To perform the procedure, you need an assistant and a stopwatch. Approximately one hour before the measurement, it is necessary to abandon emotional and physical exertion, as well as from smoking. It is undesirable to take medicines and drink alcoholic beverages. Those who are going to measure heart rate can sit or lie down. After accepting the person's necessary position, you need to sit quietly or lie down for five minutes. At this time, the assistant applies a dry, clean palm to the chest, depending on the sex: the man is below the left nipple and the woman under the mammary gland. How to determine the heart rate?

It is necessary to feel a punch in the upper part of the heart about the chest, that is, the apical impulse. He listens to half of the healthy people in a standing position in the fifth intercostal space. If it is impossible to determine, it can be judged that the impact is on the edge. Then the stopwatch is taken and the heart rate of the person begins for a minute. If the rhythm is wrong, then it is done for three minutes, after which the number is divided into three.

However, what is heart rate, not everyone knows.

Other places to measure the number of cardiac strokes

The indicator can also be measured in other places where the arteries are located close to the surface. Pulsation is well probed:

on the neck;

at the temple;

under the clavicle;

on the thigh;

on the shoulders.

Measure the pulse on both sides of the body to get more accurate results. What is the difference between heart rate and heart rate, we explained.

Maximum

The maximum HR value reflects the largest number of beats per minute that can be made by the heart. This indicator is used by athletes in order to determine what maximum load can be given to the heart. Determining the heart rate is best clinically done by a cardiologist using an electrocardiograph or using a treadmill. Another simple way to identify the possibilities of your own heart is to calculate the maximum value of heart rate according to the following formula( the result in this case is approximate):

for men from 220 age is subtracted;

, women need to take their age from the number 226.

Now we know what the maximum heart rate is in a healthy person. Go ahead.

What causes tachycardia and bradycardia?

If there is a discrepancy between heart rate and normal in a calm state, you can judge the presence of a certain disease. Most often, other pathological manifestations are noted.

When accompanied by tachycardia such symptoms as dyspnea, dizziness, fainting, weakness, it can not be ruled out:

heart disease;

infectious disease;

the onset of a stroke;

endocrine system disorders;

diseases of the nervous system;

anemia;

tumor processes.

Bradycardia can be observed normally in such cases:

40 strokes - in athletes;

in people who are engaged in heavy physical labor;

when using a number of medicines.

Also it can indicate the following diseases:

infarction;

poisoning;

hypothyroidism;

gastric ulcer;

Inflammation of the myocardium.

It would be right to measure heart rate at the load.

Tachycardia

This type of arrhythmia is characterized by rapid heart rate. Tachycardia has two types:

sinus, which arises from the excessive activity of the CA node, which sends electrical impulses that cause the heart to contract;

paroxysmal or ectopic - occurs when the pulse does not come from the CA node, but from the ventricles or atria.

Paroxysmal tachycardia, depending on the source of the pulse, can be ventricular and supraventricular. If the arrhythmia is supraventricular, the heart muscle begins to contract in the atria, that is, over the ventricles. Tachycardia of this type have the following varieties:

physiological - increased heart rate during exercise( are the norm and do not require treatment);

reciprocal, when the annular passage of the contraction pulse is accelerated;

focal - contractile impulse does not come from the sinus node, but from a stronger source;

fibrillation and flutter - a strong and erratic atrial contraction.

With tachycardia, the gastric contractile pulse occurs in the ventricles. This species is more often more dangerous. There are the following types:

extrasystole - an extraordinary reduction of greater strength compared to the usual, with repeated repetition leads to tachycardia, although in itself a threat does not represent;

extended interval QT syndrome - detection is possible only by means of an electrocardiogram( if the index is high, various arrhythmias develop);

flutter and fibrillation of the ventricles - a strong and chaotic contraction.

In general, tachycardia has such basic symptoms as a strong and frequent heartbeat, general weakness and shortness of breath.

In order to determine it, you need to know how to calculate the heart rate by ECG.

Bradycardia

This type of arrhythmia is characterized by a decreased frequency of contractions of the heart muscle. There are the following types of bradycardia:

physiological, which is observed at complete rest or at night, the pulse does not decrease too much, and such an arrhythmia does not count as pathology, does not require treatment;

parasympathetic - bradycardia, which is associated with the vagus nerve;most often seizures are disturbed at night, in some cases after eating or intense physical activity;

syndrome of weakness of the CA node - when the sinoatrial node transmits slowly signals to the heart muscle, in connection with which the rhythm slows down;

atrioventricular blockades, which appear due to defects in synchronicity of the contractile rhythm, if the atria contract more often than the ventricles.

It is worth noting that bradycardia can sometimes occur without symptoms at all, and can cause significant indispositions. In some cases, it can cause arrhythmic shock and lead to death. Very rarely there is a syndrome in which tachycardia and bradycardia occur simultaneously, and a slowed and rapid heartbeat follows one another.